You, too, can dress like a rock star
Mon Mar 14,10:16 AM ET
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By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
"The world does not need another clothing line," U2
frontman Bono pronounces.
But the self-described "big-mouth Irish rock star" and
his wife, Ali Hewson, are entering the fashion
universe with their collection, Edun, co-created with
designer Rogan. Edun's earthy but chic duds, which are
created from organic materials, are made in family-run
factories in South America and Africa with fair-labor
practices. (Related video: Bono, wife to launch
clothing line)
"We're not preaching that we're going to save the
planet. But we're doing our best," says designer
Rogan, who goes to each factory and meets with
workers.
Translation: The $168 jeans and $80 camisole you buy
at Saks Fifth Avenue won't be sewn by kids in
sweatshops. Edun (nude spelled backward) clothes have
personalized details: The jeans, for example, have
Rainer Maria Rilke's poems embroidered inside their
pockets.
"It's tiny footsteps, small choices," Bono says.
"Where you shop, what you buy, the questions you ask.
It's a different kind of label consciousness."
Before you roll your eyes at yet another lecture from
the politically minded musician, who just joined
England's Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)
and Microsoft's Bill Gates (news - web sites) at the
World Economic Forum (news - web sites) in Switzerland
to discuss the problems facing Africa, Bono feels your
pain.
"I'm sick of Bono - and I am Bono!" he says. "But this
is our moment, and let's see what we can do. I'm just
trying to get value out of my life."
Spending money on himself isn't the answer, he says,
before adding with a laugh that he has "only got a few
villas in the South of France."
Like Bono, wife Hewson has for years been quietly
campaigning for trade in Africa and working with
anti-nuke causes. But unlike many attention-hogging
rock-star spouses, she has stayed behind the scenes;
Edun is her first foray into the spotlight.
Hewson, a woman so low-key that at the start of this
interview she asks whether anyone needed water and
immediately offered to get it, is still not used to
the focus being on her.
"It's going to be interesting," she says. "In Ireland,
I'm fairly well known, but not here, which has been
good. But I think we've just blown that."
Working with her husband has "been fun," she says,
shooting him an amused glance. (The couple have four
children: daughters Jordan and Eve and sons Elijah and
John Abraham.)
Bono, despite his signature shades and slick rocker
cool style, was never a fashion trailblazer. "I bumped
into the fashion industry in a rock 'n' roll band, and
I wasn't very fashionable, really," he says. "I'm the
man who brought you the mullet."
So, will U2 be wearing Edun clothes on their upcoming
world tour, which kicks off in San Diego on March 28
and runs through December? Bono isn't sure yet, but U2
guitarist Edge "has been wearing Rogan's stuff,
anyway," Bono says.
The band's concert T-shirts, however, will be made by
Edun.
Says Bono: (Drummer) "Larry Mullen is hard to please
in terms of quality, and for years, rock 'n' roll
bands have been putting out T-shirts that fall apart,
and we've always had good-quality shirts. So we had to
prove to the band that this was better quality than
what we're used to, and we did."
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